Which Almean languages do you speak?

Posted by Philip Newton
on 5:56 7/12/01

In reply to: (none)

This is a question for Mark, but since I thought others might be interested
in the answer, I decided to post it to the board for his comment. (Though
others can also post to this thread if they want to talk about which
languages they have gained fluency in.)

Mark, do you actually speak Almean languages? By which I mean, you could
hold a conversation without having to reach for a dictionary.

I presume you speak Verdurian the best, since it appears to be the most
well-developed language on the site. Are you fluent in it, by the above
criteria? What about Cadhinor or Cuêzi (which appear to be the next most
well-documented languages)? Others?

Can you read Verdurian script fluently? Do you prefer Verdurian script or
Romanisation? When you hand-write Romanised Verdurian, do you write e.g. rh
or r-with-hacek?

Do you have a favourite Almean language? If so, which one and why?

Mark responds:

I can speak Verdurian without a dictionary... though as I think I've said
in the Secret History, I seem to have permanently crippled my
Verdurian by changing a bunch of words, so that I constantly do check the
dictionary to make sure I'm using the right word. Unfortunately, I couldn't
speak any of the others!

I can read Verdurian script fairly easily. It's occasionally rather
convenient to have one's own alphabet to write in...

As for a favorite, it'd be a tie between Verdurian (because of its
familiarity, completeness, and intricacy) and Kebreni (because it's so
non-Indo-European).

I'm also fond of bits of other languages: Wede:i for its conciseness
and logographic script; Cuêzi for its (to me) classic sonority;
Barakhinei for the little jokes, à la Klingon, about its speakers'
warrior culture. (Check out the etymologies from Cadhinor, for instance,
to see how meanings have changed.)